A FORMER senior North Wales policeman last night revealed there was a $5,000 bounty on his head as he tried to help rebuild the police force in Iraq.

As a Baghdad-based British police officer John Hughes-Jones was a prime target for Iraqi insurgents.

And the Llangefni man had several brushes with death while working with the United States Department of Justice team attached to the Ministry of Interior in Iraq.

The former chief inspector was awarded an Iraq Reconstruction Medal from the Foreign Office for his work and has vivid memories of his time in the war-torn country.

“I distinctly remember July 4, 2003,” he said.

“I was living in the Hotel Baghdad in downtown Baghdad.

“That area was quite a hotbed even then and late that night the hotel came under attack.

“I remember lying on the floor with my bullet proof vest on with bullets coming in and there was out-going fire from the people guarding us.

“I was lying there thinking ‘What am I doing here?’.”

Mr Hughes-Jones, who first served abroad as part of the International Police Task Force in Bosnia, told how he found out there was a bounty on his head.

“Through local sources we were told there was a reward of $5,000 on each of our heads.

“You just became acclimatised to the fact that you were constantly in danger and had to be vigilant at all times.

“The hotel where I was staying was bombed the day after I left.”

And later on during his stay a chance change of meeting venue ultimately saved his life.

“I was an adviser to the police chief on the East side of the river in Baghdad and every Tuesday morning we used to go for a conference with him and his senior team.

“This particular morning there was a police conference being held on the West side of the river so all the police chiefs from Baghdad and the surrounding areas were there.

“A man dressed in a police uniform had driven a vehicle with a bomb onboard outside the conference room we were supposed to be in, left it in the car park and the bomb destroyed the building.

“We would have been in that building had we followed our normal routine,” added Mr Hughes-Jones who was awarded the MBE for his services to international policing.

He added: “I know that a number of the senior Iraqi police officers I was familiar with have been killed because I’ve had that fed back to me from some of my American colleagues who remained in Baghdad after I left.

“They were incredibly brave men under the circumstances.

“I think what’s happening now is sad because I believe there’s a low-level civil war going on there and repairing the rifts in Iraqi society will prove to be incredibly difficult.

“The experience has changed me significantly. I think that was my first contact with a society that was in deep crisis and the courage and fortitude of the Iraqi people has left its mark on me.”

Mr Hughes-Jones, now community engagement coordinator with North Wales Police Authority, added: “The people are having to survive in a society that is blatantly falling apart, a way of life has been changed, and yet they were still capable of being generous and welcoming.